Mark Rothko

Mark Rothko was born Marcus Rothkowitz; his family emigrated in 1913 and settled in Portland, Oregon. Rothko attended Yale for two years and moved to New York in 1923.

After a long period of stylistic experimentation, Rothko was prompted toward abstraction by the arrival of European avant-gardists during World War II. His mature works consist of two or three diffuse rectangles of saturated color. Their effect is one of luminosity and floating in an indefinable space. Rothko often worked on a large scale, seeking to envelop the viewer in an experience of intimacy and spiritual transcendence.

In 1964, he began his paintings for the Rothko Chapel in Houston, Texas. In 1970, after battling depression, alcoholism, and poor health, Rothko committed suicide in his studio. The chapel was completed the following year.

From June 3, 2013, through early 2016, SFMOMA's building on Third Street in San Francisco will be temporarily closed for expansion construction. Selected artworks in our collection are included in a range of off-site exhibitions during this period. We regret that the remainder of the collection will not be available for study during this time.

In the meantime, we invite you to explore a wide selection of our collection online. Please note that the information presented online is subject to revision. Please contact us at collections@sfmoma.org to verify artwork details.

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